TWIN FALLS -- An Idaho company is expecting record sugar beet crops to yield nearly 40 tons per acre in Magic Valley this year.
The Times-News reports farmers began digging crops on Sept. 8, and Amalgamated Sugar Co. has since processed 80,000 tons for its White Satin sugar brand.
The company's Twin Falls district agriculture manager Dave Scantlin says sugar beets are being harvested as fast as the factory can process them. This controlled harvest will end Oct. 6, when the regular harvest begins.
Sugar beet crops yielded an average of 37.1 tons per acre in 2014, up almost 1 ton from the year before.
More than half of the sugar produced in America comes from sugar beets, and Idaho is the nation's second-largest producer of the variety.
